A new online survey aims to collect changes in sea anglers’ catches in Ireland’s coastal waters over time.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) says anglers participating in the survey will contribute towards understanding changes in angling species here.
Ireland’s sea angling resource ranges from tope in the Irish Sea to bass on the surf beaches of the Dingle Peninsula.
These fisheries attract many local anglers along with visitors from around the world. The new survey aims to track and inform possible long-term changes in the coastal fish populations targeted by anglers.
Dr William Roche, senior research officer at IFI, said: “We are looking for sea anglers of all ages and experience to take part in our new survey programme to help us to understand possible trends and changes in catch over the years.
“We know that anglers have expert localised knowledge from spending time outside observing nature and the fish they catch.
“Over a sea-angling career, this experience becomes a unique insight into the state of coastal fisheries and we want to reach out to those who have localised knowledge and care about the future of our fisheries resource to help us to understand how it has changed.”
IFI says the success of the study “relies on the knowledge, experience and observations of citizen scientist anglers. The survey has been carefully formulated to capture this knowledge and allow it to be expressed as indicators of the current state of our important fish populations.”
Each unique respondent will also be entered into a prize draw to win a voucher of up to €200 for their local angling tackle shop.
